This is what happens when you bitch for food for three hours straight with no sign of losing your voice:
Mercifully, he finally gave up the attempts to look pathetic and went to sleep on his green porch chair (previously known as MY GREEN PORCH CHAIR).
Got the house painted and got the yard cleaned up today, and if I do say so myself, it looks nice and tidy.
If you look closely, you will see a bit of yellow in the bay window- that is Walt’s reflection as he walked up the sidewalk photo-bombing the house. BTW- not a weed to be seen in my sidewalk anymore. That vinegar/epsom salt/dawn mixture works.
burnspbesq
Hmmm … in the town I grew up in, that house would go for $600k, and the property taxes would be about $9k per year.
? Martin
@burnspbesq: With a yard that size – very far north of a million in my neighborhood.
Scamp Dog
Is micture related to micturition? (I actually suspect autocorrect has struck again)
burnspbesq
Professor Adler’s campaign to keep the D.C. Circuit from rehearing Halbig en banc is taking on a distinct odor of desperation.
http://balkin.blogspot.com/2014/08/en-bunk-redux.html
SiubhanDuinne
Very attractive homestead.
lamh36
You guys would know better than I do whether or not this is a good thing?
asiangrrlMN
YOU LET HIM IN RIGHT NOW, COLE! Sir Willie Whiskerton III should be sleeping atop his throne! I’m repainting my house myself right now, and it’s pretty tedious work. My sympathies.
ETA: Sir Whiskerton III is such a magnificent bastard!
NotMax
Did not realize the Levitts built in W. Virginny.
:·)
burnspbesq
@? Martin:
In Irvine, that’s not a yard. That’s a Mello-Roos district.
SiubhanDuinne
But I am interested that you call it a “bay window.” To me, a bay window bows out and the one in the photo looks flush with the exterior wall. It might be a trick of the photograph, though. Regardless, it is a nice-looking house.
lamh36
The hastag, #IfTheyGunnedMeDown is both though provoking and sad, because the for all the choices given, I fully believe the media today would focus on the more incendiary of the images.
A few examples:
pic.twitter.com/hypt23WJuT
https://twitter.com/LowkeyNoah/statuses/498568507663978496
burnspbesq
In case any of y’all in flyover country think Martin and I are off our respective rockers in our valuation of The Cole Estate, go to http://www.weichert.com, and plug the zip code 07450 into the search engine.
lamh36
With the breaking news that AG Holder and the DOJ Civil Rights division monitoring the situation, you can now expect the RWNJ crazies to continue (they’ve already begun) the character assassination of this newest Black kid victim.
The first reports were 10, the police press conference said 3, but
EmanG
Does it have to be Dawn?
TG Chicago
Hey Cole:
We’ve gotten updates about your health, the health of your friend who had the… aneurism? stroke? whatever it was. And of course your pets. But I haven’t seen mention of Shawn’s blood sugar lately. Still looking good?
JPL
Let the poor little kitty in the house. It’s getting late. Your house looks great.
? Martin
@burnspbesq: Well, Kobe’s yard is about that size.
? Martin
@EmanG: It can’t have any bleach in it or it’ll react with the vinegar and render it inert. I think the blue Dawn is preferred for that reason.
NotMax
Fence in need of treating, staining or painting.
WereBear
@lamh36: I think it’s a good thing. They’ve intervened on the side of Justice before.
Emma
You could resist that “poor little me” face? Cole, you’re a hard man.
Mike J
Trying to decide if I’m actually 12 years old. Went sailing today. The dockmaster is Serbian. Seems to speak perfect English, but with an accent as you would assume. Much better than my Serbian which is non-existent. I realise you should not laugh at accents, but I still had to giggle every time she mentioned tightening my wang,
Suffern ACE
@burnspbesq: I ate in ridgewood last night and passed the RE listing office . Coles place would go for much higher than that, so the new owner could knock it down and build something bigger.
JoyceH
Where is Steve? Looks like a sliding door – is there a back deck?
TaMara (BHF)
Looks lovely. And very domestic.
@SiubhanDuinne: If you enlarge the photo you can see it does bow out and has green trim under it. I thought just like you did until I clicked on the photo.
John Cole +0
@JoyceH: Yes.
TaMara (BHF)
Also, that third photo of Steve is the sweetest face I’ve ever seen. You’re a big meany.
burnspbesq
@? Martin:
Our house was built in 1968. We have about 19,000 square feet. By current OC standards, that’s practically a ranch.
Violet
@SiubhanDuinne: Was thinking the same thing. But if you expand the photo you can see it curves out.
That series of photos is hilarious. Poor Steve. Such a cute kitty.
burnspbesq
@Suffern ACE:
Where did you eat?
ETA: on the west side, yeah. That’s a pretty typical house in the Lawns.
SiubhanDuinne
@TaMara (BHF):
@Violet:
Thanks. Quite the optical illusion.
Gin & Tonic
@burnspbesq: Wow, a 19,000 sq foot house. Being an attorney is pretty lucrative, I see.
burnspbesq
@Gin & Tonic:
I wish. 19,000 square foot lot. House is about 2,100.
muddy
Poor tiny helpless kitten witten!
? Martin
@burnspbesq: Wow, that’s huge. Our 8,000 sq ft lot is one of the largest in the association.
Mike J
@? Martin: 19k is still less than a half acre. There are plenty of places that require lot sizes bigger than that.
burnspbesq
@? Martin:
Eddy Meredith developed most of this part of Orange, and he was an old-school guy who didn’t skimp on back yards. Plus we’re on a corner.
lamh36
muddy
I had a cooking day today, and now don’t need to do more than steam vegetables all week. The dogs were helpful with the bowls and pans, I don’t have a garbage disposal so they do the gross scale of the cleanup.
Been having a lot of cold raw vegetable soups this summer made with greek yogurt. Today it was cucumber basil. Yesterday was new beets with horseradish.
Poopyman
Looks exactly like my long-gone aunt & uncle’s place in Greentree, and like a shit-ton of other post-war house in the Pgh area. And when you say “got the house painted” you really mean you got the trim done. I grew up in a brick house and it was really low maintenance compared to the 150 y.o. clapboard place we’re in now. Miss it.
rikyrah
Peanut says that Steve is a very cute cat. Likes the first picture most of all.
lamh36
https://twitter.com/ElizabethKSDK/status/498641275684675584
? Martin
@Mike J: Land prices around here are around $2.5M per acre.
I should note, that includes infrastructure – streets, schools, etc. The developer would pass those costs on to residents, so assuming you lose 30% to public spaces, make that $3.25M per acre.
muddy
@rikyrah: You can almost hear his squeaky voice coming out in that one!
Don K
@Suffern ACE:
Yep, in Bloomfield township MI that would be half a mil as a teardown, to be replaced by a starter castle.
lamh36
More police arriving on the scene at protest in Ferguson…(video)
https://twitter.com/AntonioFrench/status/498642217301704704
lamh36
Police Shooting Victim Michael Brown Remembered as a ‘Gentle Giant’
http://lgf.bz/1sDUW11
Mike J
@? Martin: Those rules were generally written before prices skyrocketed, but were still designed to keep out the riffraff. I’m thinking of places like Concord, MA, which they like to pretend is waaaaay out in the country, but is really just suburban Boston.
mkd
Steve is magnificent. House is oky doke as well
Karen in GA
@SiubhanDuinne: I was just going to say, the window juts out, but others beat me to it.
Near where I live, that house with that yard might be mid, maybe high $100s. Clearly I’ve made poor choices in life.
ETA: Steve looks very spiffy.
Suzanne
So I officially resigned to the head of my office. He is trying very hard to keep me. At this point, it’s not all about the Benjamins. However, I sure would not say no to more Benjamins.
Sigh. I need a new car and the idea of paying for it is stressing me out.
Arlene
The house looks great and Steve after his spa day looks magnificent. As for his non stop complaining, get use to it. I have a brother and sister Maine Coon pair who are becoming more vocal as they grow older. In fact, as I type I am being pestered for food. I am so glad you found Steve.
Gin & Tonic
@Mike J: Three-acre zoning in my town. Keeps the riff-raff out.
gwangung
@WereBear: On the other hand, I noticed this:
? Martin
@Gin & Tonic: Keep out most pro athletes and presidents in my neighborhood.
lamh36
From Antonio French’s twitter feed:
Gin & Tonic
@? Martin: Yeah, well, I don’t live in California.
SiubhanDuinne
Has anyone had a good look at tonight’s Super Moon? Here in metro Atlanta, unfortunately, the skies are so overcast with thick, damp, intermittent clouds that the moon is mostly obscured. Every few minutes they disperse for a couple of seconds and a smeary moon peeks coyly out from behind the veil, then darts back into hiding.
some guy
so glad I no longer have to put up with the obscenity that is Orange County, but I sure do miss the Wedge. and Wahoo’s. but that’s about it. oh, the car ferry from the island to Balboa too. , that was a great ride.
Southern Beale
I don’t keep up with this has-been but WTF?
Anne Laurie
@Gin & Tonic:
Too late for that, in eastern MA. Even Weston, ifty-pifty-est of the ‘Metrowest’ suburbs, is zoned for a minimum of one acre, and they’re continually bombarded for exemptions.
I’ve been told — by people who live in Weston — that Weston is for people who want grounds, while Belmont is for people who want McMansions. The term “old money” was not vocalized, but it sure was implied.
(We do not live in Weston, we live north of 128/95 on a 5,000 lot in a house from the 1950s.)
lamh36
My Truth Hurts
Steve almost looks like a Pallas cat. He’s magnificent.
muddy
@SiubhanDuinne:Earlier I was sitting on the porch and from my chair it was rising right up between these 2 tree trunks, it was really beautiful. It’s making it very bright to look for Perseids though.
FlyingToaster
@burnspbesq: Oh, I believe you. And down here with the peons, Cole’s place would still go for about 750K. Fill in 02472 to your site, eh?
@Suffern ACE: Yep. And up heah in the Hub of the Universe (or frankly, anywhere inside of 128), too. Mostly it’s taking the side-lots of the original homes, and dividing them up either into another single-family home, or a line of townhouses.
@burnspbesq: 19000 is Huge. I don’t think there’s a single home in our city with that much land attached.
@? Martin: Average for Watertown MA is like 6,000. Our developer got a variance so we’ve got 5400 sq ft.
John Cole +0
@NotMax: I like the rustic look of the fence untreated.
kc
LET HIM IN AND FEED HIM, you heartless bastard!
gwangung
@lamh36: Does it strike anyone else than me that this is dumb? If there’s an angry crowd, but they’re not doing anything, why not let them burn off their anger? Why make them martyrs?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Anne Laurie: The term “old money” was not vocalized, but it sure was implied.
Well, one needn’t vocalize when speaking to the right sort, need one?
Isn’t Belmont the home of a couple of Mittlets and Wilard’s voter registration? I myself would love to have “grounds”. I’ll cop to being jealous of Willard’s fifteen acres on a lake in NH, and the ski-in/ski-out McMansLodge in Park City, though it was a bit, well, showy.
Trentrunner
@muddy: Yeah, well, Michael Skolnik is now tweeting that there’s a fire and looting happening, so now we all know what the MSM images will be of tomorrow.
some guy
@Anne Laurie:
hee, good one. that must mean Arlington is for people who want schools.
AliceBlue
You’ve talked about how large Steve’s paws are, but good lord, those are baseball mitts!
House and yard look good.
kc
@lamh36:
Not one of the 24 hour cable “news” statins is covering this.
FlyingToaster
@Mike J: Concord, where the attack lobbyists make their bones keeping route 2 from getting exit ramps. And they consider people from Lexington or Belmont riff-raff.
Bob In Portland
South Stream.
FlyingToaster
@Anne Laurie: Weston is still using their attack lobbyists to keep the bike path out (even after Wayland offered to pay for a public restroom in Weston).
amk
So with you, it’s either feeding the cat or painting the house?
Dog On Porch
The Virginia’s are among the most beautiful lands in all of God’s Creation*.
Too damn good, in fact, for most Virginians, West or otherwise. Which is to say, I wish the smart and decent people of each state would get their political act together, if only for the good of Northern California**.
* (i.e. that I’ve ever seen, anyway).
** (i.e. “The Homeland”).
some guy
Cole, a clear stain will keep that rustic look and increase the life of the fence by 10-15 years. a good pressure wash, dry for a few days, then a decent clear stain will do wonders if you get the paint store to add fungicide.
Anne Laurie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Yep. But those were starter homes, for the young trustafarians still doing post-grad or beginning their FIRE careers.
I will say that (in my experience) Belmont has the worst-kept roads in the MetroWest area, and that includes battered low-rent downtown Framingham. You’d need to drive a Range Rover if you wanted to get around those potholes on regular basis. Weston, on the other hand, has impeccable pathways and almost no outdoor lighting, which makes it difficult to locate even the “public” areas (like the school gym where our dog-training class was scheduled) in the evenings.
Origuy
@Southern Beale: IIRD, Seagal and Putin are into the same form of martial arts. I think he’s taken too many shots to the head.
Amir Khalid
@Southern Beale:
Bob in Portland’s new favourite rock star!
gogol's wife
I wuv Steve. Let him in naow.
Cacti
@Southern Beale:
There’s a well known, unconfirmed story in the martial arts world that on the set of “Out for Justice,” Steven Seagal was choked out and made to crap his pants by movie consultant “Judo” Gene LeBell (a world class judoka), who got a little tired of the Steven being overly rough with his stunt men.
amk
@Southern Beale:
seagal sings now? kill me… NOW.
Anne Laurie
@some guy:
Well, that’s how my friends in Arlington usually phrase it.
(Usually in the context of “a vibrant community”, which is demonstrated by the high rankings of the school system. Cambridge has a highly bifurcated housing market — one-bedroom rentals/condos, or multi-million-dollar mansions. IME, people move down Mass Ave into Arlington when they get married or have kids.)
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
O/T but at your convenience could you please email me so I can find out if you’re going to be around during the upcoming New England trip?
Email is my handle (at) gmail (dot) com.
Thanks!
Suffern ACE
I am still not used for lots being measured in square feet. We all used acres growing up.
Cacti
@Origuy:
Nah, Putin studies Judo.
Seagal is into Aikido, which is worthless outside of a movie sound stage.
some guy
@Anne Laurie:
I grew up there, went to school there, and we are now preparing to put my Mom’s house on the market. excellent schools, great restaurants, transportation, and proximity to Cambridge/Boston.
little known fact, more Brits were killed in Menotomy on the way out and back to Lexington and Concord than anywhere else on April 19th, 1775, so they have that going for them. plus, Arlington is the actual birthplace of Uncle Sam.
Gin & Tonic
@efgoldman: I over-simplifed quite a bit, as it depends on zoning district, not town-wide, but many of the more rural towns largely west of I-295/I-95 have something similar. It mostly depends on whether the zoning district has a public water supply, which is pretty much non-existent in the whole Glocester-Foster-Exeter-W Greenwich-Chariho strip. My district is 120k sq feet, which is about 2.75 acres, but if I want to keep more that two horses it goes up to 5 acres minimum.
Anne Laurie
@efgoldman: @SiubhanDuinne: I’m still incapable of sending emails, unfortunately. (That changes tomorrow, I hope.) Would love to have a meetup, Sept. 13 should work for me, and whatever is eventually decided I shall do my best to be there!
Bill Arnold
@? Martin:
You mean some chemist approved of this mixture? Sheesh. I have memories of making different random-mix-of-chemicals weed killers as a kid and testing them, on jewel weed (a native impatiens). (What worked best you can no longer buy at the supermarket, because War on Meth Labs.)
lurker dean
wow – previous pics of steve didn’t capture his enormity. “magnificent beast” is very apt.
i recently read that adult cats only “talk” to humans, they don’t meow to other cats. which makes sense i guess. he must really be hungry :o)
? Martin
@Bill Arnold: It’s pretty sound. The vinegar (acid) kills the weeds. The epsom salt is magnesium sulfate and and the magnesium counters the acid in the soil by helping plants grow in low pH soil. The soap keeps the vinegar stuck to the plants so they can absorb it and die.
Glocksman
@Poopyman:
I’m sure you know about the cost of electrical work on such an old house.
In my experience, old homes cost huge amounts of $$ to bring up to code, never mind anything additional you have in mind such as network wiring.
dmbeaster
@? Martin: And the house is a tear down.
? Martin
@dmbeaster: Oh, absolutely. You can put up a quite nice house twice that size for 25% of what you pay for the property. You’ll make your money back the moment it’s finished.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@? Martin: Then I don’t even want to know what our 1600 sq ft midcentruy ranch on 1/2 acre would fetch in your neighborhood. Because it sure won’t get that here. We love it anyway.*
*Especially as it’s much closed to freeways that it sounds. And it zoned residential/house of worship only
Diana
@FlyingToaster: yeah, that house would cost a fortune in Concord, MA, but frankly there aren’t a lot of houses like that in Concord, MA, and I suspect all that pre-20th c housing stock is historically protected.
In my hometown that house would cost about $50K, at most.
In my current home of downtown NYC it doesn’t exist, and never did.
And my recently deceased 17- to 19-year-old half Maine Coon could meow for hours at a time, but I was a much softer touch than John and he had whatever he wanted out of me long before we hit his limits. So I have no idea what they were.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
Seen and replied, thanks.
I am hoping for a Boston meetup on Saturday September 13th.
@Anne Laurie:
Ah, either didn’t know or didn’t remember that you can’t currently send emails. No worries, I’m now in touch with efg and muddy. And there’s still a month until proposed larger gathering, so plenty of time.
FlyingToaster
@Diana:
Pre-19th century is protected. Historic Neighborhoods are protected. But a generic Second Empire mansard colonial or an equally generic Queen Anne will be replaced with a new, large, neocolonial with many, many rooflines. And a 4 car garage. And most of the neighbors (the ones who didn’t sue to try to block it) will applaud.
There are not many ranch homes in Eastern Mass; hard to heat in winter, rooflines shallow enough that snow sits on the roof rather than sliding off, if we do get a hurricane those roofs tend to fly off (code doesn’t specify hurricane strapping like it does in Florida). And our land tends not to be, um, level enough for a ranch house. So most residential construction (since the 1800s, certainly) is smaller footprint, more stories, steep-pitched roofs. And around Boston, greater density, modulo your suburb’s attack lobbyists.
John’s house would cost a fortune amongst us riff-raff here in Watertown, MA, which was the point I was trying to make :) And yes, like Ridgelawn NJ, or Concord, it would likely be a teardown to make something
ugliermore expensive.Glocksman
@FlyingToaster:
It’d cost mid to lower end here in southwestern Indiana.
That said, housing is priced to income and income is lower on average here than it is nationwide.
It’s not a fact I’m proud of, but you can buy a very nice house locally for what passes as pocket change in other areas of the country.
Glocksman
The above notwithstanding, the trulia listing for this home is bullshit.
The home was built in 1940 and paid off in 1961.
I know this because it was my home before my mother died and we had to sell it.
Goblue72
@burnspbesq: good one
PurpleGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: NYC @ 0216: Not very cloudy, although not completely clear of clouds. The moon is shining and you can see the whole full moon. Quite nicely, in fact. Low enough in the sky that I can see it from my terrace.
Got to the thread late after watching some TV, and checking Cassie’s kitten cam
WaynersT
man that’s a cat on tree trunks – yowza those are some big meat paws on that kitty
Arclite
Damn, that cat is big.
Also, too: Nice pics Cole!
Alex S.
@Southern Beale:
I’m already seeing him riding a cannon half-naked singing ‘If I could turn back time’.
Lee
John, not sure if you are still monitoring this thread but here is a suggestion for a hobby:
Painting!
No power tools involved.
It can be as small or large of a project as you want.
Minimal cost outlay to start.
If you screw up it is really easy to cover your mistakes.
No power tools involved.
Glocksman
@Bill Arnold:
IIRC, bleach and vinegar combine to form chlorine gas, which is something you don’t want to breathe.
Sherparick
JC, you have commented before about Steve’s paws. You are right. They are simply humongous. Beautiful cat.